Recession has turned ‘Blair’s children’ into a ‘Peter Pan generation’

Young people who were grew up amid economic boom during the Blair years have
become a “Peter Pan generation”, approaching their 30s still dependent on
their parents for financial support – and even the ironing, a report warns.

The apparent ease with which people once seemed to land well-paid jobs and get on the housing ladder meant that those who are now in their 20s grew up with a sense of “entitlement” which has left them now ill equipped to cope in harsher conditions, it suggests.

A survey of attitudes for the Co-operative Group found that more than eight out of 10 people aged 18 to 30 say they rely on their parents not only for financial support but also for help with tasks such as cleaning and ironing or even for lifts in the family car.

Two thirds said they are constantly in debt and three quarters of them said they accept debt – from student loans, credit cards and overdrafts – as a fact of life.

But, significantly, they also voiced deep disillusionment about their careers – with two fifths openly admitting that they expected to be earning much more than they are in relation to their age and level of education.

On average those polled estimated that they should be being paid almost £7,200 more than they currently are.

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Donna Dawson, a psychologist who examined the results for the Co-operative, said it pointed to a “Peter Pan generation” in danger of reaching 40 and still relying on “pocket money” from their parents.

She said that growing up amid an economic boom where the assumption was that getting a good education would be a passport to an affluent lifestyle had left them despairing in an age of austerity.

But she said that an emphasis on pushing children to get good academic results without delivering other life skills had left them ill equipped to cope.

She said: “There is a lack of realism [in this generation] – as a parent I know what was going on when they were growing up and this is payback time.

“We were very busy then working, it was career boom time and there was a bug drive to get our kids as well educated as they could – so we used to let them off chores.

“Because we were so busy we also felt guilty so we threw money at them and I think now we are reaping what we sowed.

“Those kids have become dependent on us financially and they have seen the ease with which we seemed to make money and they are wondering ‘Why am I not earning that money I got the education [they said I needed to get].

The ICM poll of 1,500 young people in their late teens and 20s found that 80 per cent rely on their parents for help with basic tasks and decisions and a third still expect them to do their cleaning or ironing, while a quarter turn to them for help getting a job.

While only eight per cent had turned to their parents for help buying their first property, almost half rely on them for day to day expenses such as food shopping, and more than a third get their parents to subsidise their holidays.

“They have not been able to grow up because our generation won’t let them – we owe it to them to take a step back, otherwise we are going to end up with 40 year-old kids either still living at home or looking to us to bail them out,” said Mrs Dawson.

“There is a feeling of entitlement in his generation they think ‘you owe me, I didn’t ask to be born’.”

The survey organisers said that the study showed that debt had become the "new normality" for younger people, saddled with much higher student loans to pay off than previous generations while facing harsher economic circumstances.

Martyn Wates, deputy chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said: “Whilst it is positive to see that young people believe that they will one day earn a healthy salary, the survey has signposted that the earnings of 18-30 year olds do not currently live up to expectations which highlights that, for now at least, this ambitious group may have to re-evaluate their ideals.”